Industry sources revealed recently the construction of a new port in the Industrial township of Musaffah in Abu Dhabi is currently being planned. The new port will have the capacity to handle some five million to nine million metric tons of industrial per year, and will be the second such port in the emirate.

An agreement was signed to launch a feasibility study for the proposed project on Tuesday by the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones, (ZonesCorp), responsible for developing and regulating the industrial free zones in the emirate, and Royal Haskoning Consultants.

The port is expected to commence its operations at some point in 2009, according to Khaleej Times.

The Abu Dhabi Ports Company announced the Dh8 billion construction of the Khalifa Industrial City and Port in Taweelah, 40-kilometres from Abu Dhabi, early this year. Operations of Port Zayed are expected to be shifted to the Khalifa Industrial City and Port within five years.

"The consultant will carry out the tasks necessary to achieve the objectives of the feasibility study and to estimate the market potential of a new industrial port in Abu Dhabi covering both the potential trade volumes and revenues. It will also identify the key factors that are most likely to attract potential users to the port and which factors would provide a competitive edge over neighbouring ports," said Jaber Al Khaili, manager of the engineering department at ZonesCorp.